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Bulletins

Creators on Facebook can evade Apple's 30% transaction fee

Mark Zuckerberg announced an update to subscriptions that allows creators to bypass Apple's App Store fee.

Facebook logo on a smartphone screen

Facebook and Apple have sparred over App Store fees.

Photoillustration: Igor Golovniov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Facebook is offering creators a way to evade Apple's widely criticized 30% app transaction fee, which has faced blow after blow in recent months. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the subscription update in a Facebook post Wednesday.

Zuckerberg directly called out Apple in the post, saying Apple's 30% fee makes it harder for "creators to make money from their work." Creators will be able to use a custom link that people can subscribe through, rather than signing up through Apple's in-app subscription. Zuckerberg also announced that creators will earn a bonus of $5 to $20 for each new subscriber they get from Facebook's $1 billion creator fund.

Epic Games took a swing at Apple's in-app purchase policies in April, resulting in a judge declaring that Apple needed to let developers promote alternative payment options. Apple is appealing the ruling.

Lizzy Lawrence

Lizzy Lawrence ( @LizzyLaw_) is a reporter at Protocol, covering tools and productivity in the workplace. She's a recent graduate of the University of Michigan, where she studied sociology and international studies. She served as editor in chief of The Michigan Daily, her school's independent newspaper. She's based in D.C., and can be reached at llawrence@protocol.com.

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